A Hertford taxi driver has been left “appalled” at the district council’s “ridiculous” decision to hand him a £70 fine for leaving his taxi in a taxi rank while he went to the toilet.

Simon Black was shocked to discover the parking ticket when he returned to his taxi — which is licensed by East Herts District Council — a few minutes after parking up outside of the Woolpack pub last month.

The 53-year-old, who has been working as a taxi driver in East Hertfordshire for 24 years and said he has “never had an issue like this before”, had gone into the Wetherspoon pub to use the toilet before purchasing a coffee at Subway on his way back to the vehicle.

He explained: “I parked on Mill Bridge at about 11am, got out, went to the loo and a ticket was there when I came back at about 11.06am.

Assuming the ticket had been issued in error, Simon wrote to the council immediately to explain what had happened.

However, he was amazed when the council rejected his appeal, telling him that his right to stop in the taxi stand for a comfort break had been voided when he bought the coffee.

He continued: “You get 14 days to appeal so obviously I appealed that morning and stated what happened.

“They wrote back to me and said ‘yes you can park there to go to the toilet but not to get a coffee’.

“But the enforcement officer couldn’t even have known I was getting a coffee when they gave me the ticket.

“Having served as a taxi driver for over 20 years, I am appalled at how I have been treated.

“I’ve paid the fine because I don’t want the hassle of a further appeal or tribunal, but if they do have the good sense to refund it I will donate it to a charity of the Hertfordshire Mercury’s choosing.”

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“But the enforcement officer couldn’t even have known I was getting a coffee when they gave me the ticket.

So how could the enforcement officer know you'd just gone to the lavvy then?

Quote:

“Having served as a taxi driver for over 20 years, I am appalled at how I have been treated."

"Having pulled this trick for 20 years I'm appalled that I've finally been caught out after all that time"

But wonder how this official exemption for going to the toilet works? Is it written into the rules? Is there a time limit, blah, blah.

Having said that, on Google it looks like Subway is over 100m from the rank, so he did well to go into the pub, go to the toilet, come back out to the taxi rank outside, walk 100m+ to Subway, order a coffee and pay for it, then walk back 100m+ to the rank, all in just 6 minutes

And somehow an enforcement officer managed to write out a ticket etc during this period and the driver was completely unaware until he got back to the rank

I wonder who issued the ticket, was it parking enforcement or licensing enforcement ? If it was the former then he could easily appeal (and win) on the grounds of what the traffic order states. It probably states “no stopping except taxis “ in which case what offence has he committed???

Did the road markings comply with the latest Traffic signs Regulations and General directions?

10.5 The taxi rank where stopping by other vehicles is prohibited is now prescribed separately as diagram 1028.5. This has a continuous yellow line 200 millimetres wide. This was previously prescribed as a permitted variant of diagram 1028.2. The alternative 300 millimetre wide yellow line is no longer prescribed as it has no appropriate use. This applies also to the wide yellow line forming part of the bus stop clearway marking.

10.6 A new shared taxi rank and parking bay is prescribed. This is the same as the new parking bay described above, but without any legend and with a continuous yellow line 200 millimetres wide. Permitted variants allow appropriate parts of the markings for bus stop clearways, taxi ranks and parking bays to be coloured red when placed on a red route. There are two types of bus stop clearway markings for use on a red route, one where taxis are prohibited from stopping (continuous wide red line parallel to the kerb) and one where taxis may stop to pick up and set down passengers (double or single red line parallel to the kerb).

I wonder who issued the ticket, was it parking enforcement or licensing enforcement ? If it was the former then he could easily appeal (and win) on the grounds of what the traffic order states. It probably states “no stopping except taxis “ in which case what offence has he committed???

A taxi on a rank should be available for immediate hire. If the driver is not in or near the car it is not available for immediate hire.

I wonder who issued the ticket, was it parking enforcement or licensing enforcement ? If it was the former then he could easily appeal (and win) on the grounds of what the traffic order states. It probably states “no stopping except taxis “ in which case what offence has he committed???

A taxi on a rank should be available for immediate hire. If the driver is not in or near the car it is not available for immediate hire.

precisely

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I wonder who issued the ticket, was it parking enforcement or licensing enforcement ? If it was the former then he could easily appeal (and win) on the grounds of what the traffic order states. It probably states “no stopping except taxis “ in which case what offence has he committed???

A taxi on a rank should be available for immediate hire. If the driver is not in or near the car it is not available for immediate hire.

precisely

Your old mucka from Oakham got one the other day for not being in the car on the rank.

I wonder who issued the ticket, was it parking enforcement or licensing enforcement ? If it was the former then he could easily appeal (and win) on the grounds of what the traffic order states. It probably states “no stopping except taxis “ in which case what offence has he committed???

A taxi on a rank should be available for immediate hire. If the driver is not in or near the car it is not available for immediate hire.

Where does it state that on the signage ?He can be given a ticket by licensing enforcement for leaving his vehicle unattended but this DOESN’T come under the jurisdiction of a parking enforcement officer.

There is also a previous case heard by the penalty traffic tribunal which sets a precedent.

When is a taxi available for hire? (SQ05010H)

Driver of a licensed hackney carriage, the appellant left his vehicle for a few moments on a double yellow line while he went to the toilet and was issued with a PCN for waiting in a restricted area. The council contended that he was not entitled to wait in the taxi rank, because the vehicle was unattended, not available for hire and therefore not "a hackney carriage" as defined in the bylaw. The Adjudicator, ruling that he did not interpret that to mean that the vehicle ceased to be a hackney carriage for every minute that it was not in such use, found that the common sense view of the appellant's vehicle would say that it was a vehicle used in standing or plying for hire and had the required number plate fixed on it. He was also satisfied on the facts that the vehicle was available for hire, except that any passenger would have had to wait to depart until the appellant returned from the toilet.The appeal was allowed.

I wonder who issued the ticket, was it parking enforcement or licensing enforcement ? If it was the former then he could easily appeal (and win) on the grounds of what the traffic order states. It probably states “no stopping except taxis “ in which case what offence has he committed???

A taxi on a rank should be available for immediate hire. If the driver is not in or near the car it is not available for immediate hire.

Where does it state that on the signage ?He can be given a ticket by licensing enforcement for leaving his vehicle unattended but this DOESN’T come under the jurisdiction of a parking enforcement officer.

So are you saying that a parking enforcement officer can't issue a parking ticket to a vehicle parked on a rank and that only a licensing enforcement officer can?

A parking enforcement officer can issue a ticket to anyone they like, whether it’s correct or not is open to appeal. I stated that a parking enforcement officer would be wrong to issue a ticket to a Hackney carriage parked on a rank if he/she is complying with the signage and traffic order ‘NO STOPPING EXCEPT TAXIS’ that is what the penalty traffic tribunal adjudicator would be looking for in any appeal.

A parking enforcement officer can issue a ticket to anyone they like, whether it’s correct or not is open to appeal. I stated that a parking enforcement officer would be wrong to issue a ticket to a Hackney carriage parked on a rank if he/she is complying with the signage and traffic order ‘NO STOPPING EXCEPT TAXIS’ that is what the penalty traffic tribunal adjudicator would be looking for in any appeal.

No Stopping Except Taxis is different to being parked on Rank and leaving the TAXI unattended.

Seems he thinks the ticket means he has to go a whole shift without going to the lavvy.

Quote:

"It seems that (council staff) can leave their desks for a comfort break and a drink but I cannot leave my taxi."

Excerpts from the council's letter - seems to be parking enforcement rather than licensing:

A letter sent to Simon by the council and seen by the Mercury reads: “I have reviewed this case and advise that the Penalty Charge Notice was issued to your vehicle because it was parked in a taxi rank.

“Taxis are permitted to remain within this bay whilst plying for hire.

“You advise that you parked at this location to visit the toilet and also to purchase coffee.

“Whilst the council accepts that drivers may need to stop to visit the toilet, the vehicle may not remain whilst drivers carry out other activities such as purchasing refreshments.

“You went beyond this act of taking a comfort break and your vehicle was not entitled to remain.”

Furious Simon has now accused the council of treating him and his fellow taxi drivers as “cash cows”, and labelled the episode a “farce”.

“Basically the money comes out of our license fee to uptake the taxi ranks and stands,” he said.

“These fees increase periodically but our fare rates have not been increased since 2011.

“We’re just not getting anything for our money apart from grief.

“Why don’t these enforcement officers start focusing more on ticketing the cars that they should be, the private hire cars and others who shouldn’t be using taxi ranks?

“They are not dealing with the real issues. A taxi parking in a rank is not an issue. It doesn’t warrant a ticket."

A spokeswoman for East Herts District Council said: “The driver challenged the Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) and has since paid which means that the matter is now closed.

“The council provided its reasons for issuing the PCN in its response to the driver.”

I wonder who issued the ticket, was it parking enforcement or licensing enforcement ? If it was the former then he could easily appeal (and win) on the grounds of what the traffic order states. It probably states “no stopping except taxis “ in which case what offence has he committed???

A taxi on a rank should be available for immediate hire. If the driver is not in or near the car it is not available for immediate hire.

precisely

Your old mucka from Oakham got one the other day for not being in the car on the rank.

Splasher Eldred or clever Trevor ?

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